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Populations – Limiting Factors and Carrying Capacity What influences the number of organisms in a population? • If organisms have enough food, water, space and no disease or predators, populations will increase. • However, certain factors can limit the number of species in a population. Some of these include: Lack of food/water Destruction of habitat and pollution Predators Disease • These things are called limiting factors. They limit or restrict the number of organisms in a population. Example: If there were a drought, plant growth would decrease. The lack of water is a limiting factor for the plants. Also, fewer plants make fewer seeds. Mice that eat those seeds would then not have enough of a food supply. The reduction of food is then a limiting factor for the mice. What is carrying capacity? • A population of robins live in trees in a park. Over a few years, the number of robins increases and there isn’t enough nesting space for all of them. Nesting space is a limiting factor for the robins. • The ecosystem has then reached its carrying capacity. Carrying capacity is the largest number of individuals of one species that can live in an ecosystem. • What would happen to the robins if they exceeded the park’s carrying capacity?